


The Ass in Assassination

by WhumpTown



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Hurt Tony Stark, Pepper Potts - Freeform, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Whumptober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-15 11:22:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20865389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhumpTown/pseuds/WhumpTown
Summary: Tony vs Assassin





	The Ass in Assassination

Peter hadn’t meant to but he hasn’t been spending a lot of time with Mr. Stark. He’d gotten caught up in Organic Chemistry and his Calculus final. Even Spider-Man was hardly getting any of his time. If Peter wants to get an A in Calculus he has to study for three hours and to keep his A in Organic Chemistry then he needs at least two hours. That’s five hours plus the time he spends in school and doing homework and he has to eat dinner and it all just adds up and leaves him no time to do much of anything. 

That’s why he’s a little surprised to be walking through LA with Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts. He’d missed them something awful, he really relies on stress-free weekends and breaks with them. Where he can mindlessly follow Mr. Stark around while Ms. Potts makes them take snacks and enforces mandatory movie breaks. But a week off of school and an invitation to go see one of the houses Mr. Stark owns in LA threw Peter for a loop.

Almost as much as when Mr. Stark had walked through Peter’s bedroom door wearing what could only be described as dad clothes. The man had really embodied the look and Peter wasn’t going to dare try and explain why Mr. Stark looked so funny.

“I was going for hipster,” Mr. Stark says seriously and Peter snorts, covering his mouth quickly with his hand to hide it. Too late because Mr. Stark’s face is full of concern and what Peter can only speculate is a little bit of doubt. 

Peter scrambles for words and finds himself talking very quickly,” sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh it’s just that I don’t ever see you in jeans and then here you are. You’re not just wearing jeans you’re wearing a plain old white shirt and blue jeans with tennis shoes. It was a bad reaction. I didn’t-”

Mr. Stark sighs and sometimes it’s too easy for Peter to forget that the man he looks to as a father-figure, as a mentor, is tired. He doesn’t sleep enough and when he does Peter has heard the tricks his mind has played on him. It makes Peter feel bad but Mr. Stark puts his armor back up and wrangles Peter and Ms. Potts out the door.

The pavement is hot underneath his shoes, maybe this is why Mr. Stark told him he should wear shoes more equipped for walking. Tennis shoes just wouldn’t go with his highwater jeans and if he’s walking down Malibu’s streets with Pepper Potts and Tony Stark he’s at least going to attempt to look decent. Peter spares a glance at the couple, smiling at his mentor when he catches Mr. Stark’s eye. The older man winks at him before turning his attention to where Pepper’s point out a store. 

Peter gets lost in his strawberry swirl. His eyes lazily looking around as he bumps hips with Mr. Stark as they walk. He’s comfortable with them. His gate falls even with theirs and he mindlessly tunes into their conversation.

“Tony, I am not eating raw fish,” Pepper’s hand tightens in Tony’s, her eyes meeting his so she can express just exactly how much she means this. Her eyes move down to Peter, the boy looking at neither of them as he eats his ice cream and watches the skyline. “If you argue that Peter’s never had it I’ll remind you that every time you eat sushi you spend your night puking it all back up. Something tells me mint chocolate chip doesn't taste as good coming up.”

Tony looks at the cone in his hand and makes a face. He swallows thickly at the memories of his bad sushi nightmares and takes a rather large lick from his cone. Still, the memory of the sushi remains heavy on his tongue. “Fine,” he gives in and clears his throat. “Where are we going to take him then?”

Peter suddenly stops walking, his entire body vibrating with tension. It’s his spidey sense but there’s nothing happening. He looks up and down the street but no one’s walking towards it about to be unexpectedly run over. 

“Kid?” It had taken Tony a moment to notice that Peter was no longer right beside him. He’d nearly jumped out of his own damn skin when he looked at where Peter should have been and found pavement. Luckily, Pepper found him and pulled Tony to Peter. “You’re as pale as a ghost, Pete. What’s-”

Peter hears the trigger being pulled, the sound that the bullet makes as it is launched straight at them but he can’t figure out where it’s coming from. It’s like an explosion inside his head and it’s impossible to think around all the scrap metal. So, he takes a wild guess and pushes at Mr. Stark and all three of them fall to the pavement. Pepper lets out a small cry but Tony is silent as all the air is knocked out of his lungs.

In a flash, Peter gets back up to his feet his eyes zeroing in on a building that he’s 97% sure the shot came from. “Mr. Stark-” his voice catches in his throat. The white shirt that Tony was wearing when they left the hotel is rapidly turning crimson with his blood. 

With a hand hardened from years of work, Tony probes the area drawing in a choked breath when pain shoots up his chest. He leans forward like he’s going to sit up, but Peter’s hand pushes him back down. Tony grunts as the hot ground digging painfully into his skin. “Looks like-” Tony swallows thickly,” -you guys are going to be having dinner in a hospital cafeteria.”

Peter isn’t sure what to do with himself. The gunman is long gone but Peter can’t tear himself away from his mentor if the man still posed a threat. Tony glances at him and manages a shaky smile. It turns wrong quickly as Pepper presses down on his wound and Tony gasps at the pain it causes. Tony reaches up with his right hand and Peter stops him, taking his hand and pressing it back down. “You have to let Pepper put pressure on it,” the words leave his mouth and he doesn't even realize he’s saying it.

This all seems like it’s happening to someone else. It’s not Mr. Stark’s blood slowly pumping from his body. It’s not Mr. Stark’s blood soaking the knees of Peter’s favorite pants and making him shiver with its warmth. Pepper isn’t frantically begging someone to call 911. Mr. Stark isn’t passing out. 

“Hey,” he smacks Mr. Stark’s cheek a little harder than he means too but it gets his mentor’s attention. The color has rapidly left Mr. Stark’s face, making his peppered beard stand out strongly against his jaw. Sweat beading on his brow, Mr. Stark can’t even hide the pain he’s in anymore downright whimpering when Pepper moves her hands. “You promised me you wouldn’t leave, don’t you remember that? You promised you’d be around as long as I needed you.”

Tony’s eyes open a fraction of an inch and land on Peter. He doesn’t get a verbal answer, and that’s alright because the hand he’s holding tightens around his. Peter nods and smiles,” good. I’m not just going to let you forget to keep your eyes open. You made a promise and I really need you to keep it, okay? ‘Cause I’m not ready yet.”

Tony nods and his breath catches. Pepper does her best to keep the pressure on his chest but he gags as blood pools in the back of his throat. “Turn him over,” Pepper half hugs Tony to her chest as he pukes on the sidewalk. His back now resting against her, propped up on his side, only Pepper’s hand keeping him from landing in more of his blood. 

Peter is looking at the blood when the paramedics arrive. He’s lost in it. It seems to go on forever. He’d never considered how it could travel through the fabric of his pants. It’s not just on him, it’s like glue binding him to Tony, to the pavement, to the moment and Peter already knows that it’s going to be impossible to scrub out from underneath his nails. He’s going to have to live with Tony’s blood staining him.

“Kid?” A man he’s never seen before is standing over him, a hand on his shoulder that’s supposed to be comforting but just freaks Peter out. “Your parents are in the ambulance, your mom said-” the man moved his hand while speaking, making Peter flinch. In a rush, Peter gets his feet underneath him and stumbles away from the man. He’s not sure where he’s going but it has to be away from the man.

The red of the ambulance matches the red soaked into his pants and he finds himself drawn to the car. He pulls himself up into the ambulance, looking out the window and at nothing else. There is a heartbeat being measured out. It bumps a reminder that it may cease to rise again. A timer not on their side.

“Let’s go!” Peter flinches as the back of the ambulance is hit, signaling everyone’s where they should be. 

It sounds like a gunshot.

“Jackie Kennedy suffered from severe PTSD,” Peter says to himself, it makes sense that he’d be afraid of a sound that sounds like a gunshot. His AP Psychology professor had taught them about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Peter’s pretty Mr. Stark has it too. “Makes sense.”

Pepper has not shed a tear. Her eyes remain dry while her husband’s blood slowly dries on her hands. She’s a solid wall and she will remain so until she’s certain it’s safe to break down. Right now is not the time, not with Peter freaking out. “What was that Peter?”

She can see Peter’s Adam’s Apple bob as he swallows and he turns his head to her. His eyes met hers and glance over at Tony before quickly moving back to Pepper. “P-Professor Greg said that Jackie Kennedy suffered from PTSD after-” Peter’s eyes move back to Tony. 

Pepper lets go of Tony’s hand and put both of her hands on Peter’s face. She forces his head to turn straight and look at her,” you are not going to suffer from PTSD. Tony isn’t-” Pepper glances at her husband, not sure that she can promise Peter that Tony won’t die. She decides to anyway,“ Tony isn’t going to die, Peter. He’s too stubborn to die and too invested in us to leave.” She tries to lift the mood, trying to come up with something that Tony would say,” you might want to leave after a day though. He’s a pig-headed bastard when he’s in pain… and, well, most of the time when he’s not but it is worse.”

Which is an understatement and she knows it. Healing Tony is a very needy man and drugged up Tony is worse. She just hopes Peter gets to see it because if Tony- Pepper looks down and Peter’s holding her hand. After a moment’s hesitation, she holds his back.

“We don't usually, like for children under the age of 18 to come back. The ICU can be a lot to take in, even for adults.” The doctor eyes them both and it’s not hard to tell what the man is thinking. They’re still covered in blood, Tony’s blood, and they haven’t left the waiting room to even eat. Now, Pepper, who hasn’t cried or expressed any emotions since leaving Tony’s side, is telling the doctor that Peter will be accompanying her back to Tony’s room. All that emotion is turning into anger.

Pepper takes a step closer to the man and if Peter cared more he might actually fear for the man. “Peter’s seventeen and that’s-that’s his father back there. He wants to go back so he’s going back.” There isn’t fear in the Doctor’s eyes but understanding. Peter hates it. He wants to wallow in his guilt and pain and he doesn’t want it to make any sense at all because he needs to make sure that this is his burden.

_ **His fault.** _

Pepper’s lies hurt in a different way. _‘That’s his father back there…’_. It makes _this_ just like Uncle Ben all over again. His fault. His fault because he was there and he could have saved the day but he didn’t. He didn’t because he’s weak and he’s just a kid. He’s a kid and everything he touches he messes up. He can’t do anything right. What’s the point of being Spider-Man if you never save the day? If you can’t save the people that mean the most to you?

“Tony.” Pepper still isn’t crying and Peter wishes he could stop. She’s an immovable force, she’s a hero just like Tony, and he’s a mess. Even when she sees Tony, laid out on the bed looking more dead than alive, she moves to his side and takes his hand. It’s natural to her. “Look at what you’ve done now,” the comment is meant for Tony but he’s not in any state to hear her or come up with something snappy to retort. 

And it’s Peter’s fault. 

“It’s okay,” Pepper’s voice isn’t drowned out by the machines hooked up to Tony. “Just rest, when you’re ready I’ll be right here.” She kisses him and Peter is in awe at how she has the nerve to touch Tony. He looks… He doesn’t _look_ like Tony. The man on the bed isn’t the man that threatens to throw out his books and phone if he doesn’t get enough sleep. The man on the bed… he doesn't feel anything at all. 

“He’s going to be okay, Peter.” 

Tony wakes up. Peter’s there to see it. Tony’s eyes open and Peter can’t recognize the man looking at him but Tony recognizes him. Tony moves too quickly for his sore body and moans but he’s still fighting to sit up. “Hey, Pete-” his name is swaddled in a thick drowsy voice that doesn’t belong to Tony but there’s just enough of the man behind his eyes that Peter moves closer. 

Tony looks around the room, sluggish, his brain turning all this information over in his mind. “Hey, Kiddo? Can you get me a newspaper, water, and more of whatever’s in-” Tony makes an offhand motion at the morphine machine,” this?” The most surprising thing is that Tony doesn’t hide the pain that he’s in. “My chest is killing me and my head feels like you’ve taken a jackhammer to it.”

Peter looks at his mentor, the man whose blood is still dried under his nails. “O-Okay.” He’s not sure how to go about getting the morphine but the rest is easy. It takes him about five minutes, mostly because the newspapers are in the waiting room and also because after he steps out of the room he just stands in the hall. He doesn’t want to go back in there with Tony, not without Pepper. She won’t be back for another hour maybe two. She’s got meetings to discuss what could happen if Tony can’t make a full recovery. 

“I’m okay, Pep.” Peter comes back in and both adults look over at him. Tony clears his throat,” actually, I take that back. If the newspapers don’t say something about how great my ass looked in those jeans…” Pepper smacks Tony’s arm. “I’m serious, Pepper! Those were hot! I literally put the ass in assassination.”

Pepper rolls her eyes,” it’s good to see you’re really going to be fine.” 

Tony scoffs,” like I would let myself die not wearing a cool pair of shades. It’s like you don’t even know me.”


End file.
